New Fork

I had a Fox talas 80-125mm on mine. It was nice to run it at 80-90mm for long climbs and then crank it up to 125 for the downhills. It worked very well and felt closely matched to the rear. Mine was one of the older models so it had v-brake and disc mounts. You'll probably have to look for a used one somewhere, but it is worth it if you are patient.....you'll find one eventually.

Well that's what the blurb always says. I beg to differ though. A while back I picked up a Mootaineer frame and built it up with a F80X, this resulted in a bike that was hilariously steep and pretty much unrideable. With an F100 it was rideable but still masochistically twitchy. Now it sports a Vanilla 130 and it's a peach uphill and down - honestly, I hate choppers as much as the next guy. The angles are now the same as a Smoothie with a 100mm fork or a (1999) Merlin YBB with an 80mm fork. I really can't see this frame being used with anything less than a 100mm fork, even then the angles are very xc race which really doesn't fit with the character of the frame. It has too much travel and is too flexy to be a racer. With a 120mm+ fork it is, however, a perfect lightweight day long trail bike.

I'm lucky I have a place full of parts to mix, match and swap out until I'm happy. If, on the other hand, you're plonking down the hard-earned green I'd definitely try to find friends or a friendly LBS that will let you mock up the frame with various travel forks first so you can see exactly what's up and if it's going to work for you for whatever taste you have in handling.